Mohammad Afzal Mir

Afzal Mir will be remembered for many years to come as an inspirational teacher by the thousands of doctors who have passed through his unit as medical students and junior doctors. He will be remembered fondly by all his friends and colleagues as a true gentleman, a generous host, and, above all, as an outstanding clinician. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife and three children as a truly wonderful family man.

Afzal was born on 6 May 1936 in Trehgam, Kashmir, the son of M Abdullah Mir, a farmer, and his wife, Taj. He was the third born of 10 children. At school he was top of his year all the way through. He won a scholarship to study medicine at G R Medical College in Gwalior, where he received the scholarship of merit during all five years in medical school, together with first prize and certificates of honour in anatomy and physiology, and in forensic medicine. He graduated MB BS from Vikram University, Ujjain, in 1962. Vikram University was the awarding body for three medical schools, and Afzal graduated fifth out of a total of 500 students. His internship was at S M H S Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir.

In May 1962, Afzal and four friends left Kashmir in a bid to escape for a better future. They walked across the border in the thick of night in their office shoes …